Croatia sees drop in illegal border crossings, but challenges remain

While 2025 saw a significant drop in illegal border crossings—by as much as fifty percent—attempts to enter Croatia unlawfully through Bosnia and Herzegovina continue daily.

Croatia’s longest land border—and one of the EU’s longest external borders—remains closely monitored by border police, who are employing every method at their disposal to prevent unauthorized crossings.

“The dog and I work as a team. Our primary role is to discourage potential illegal border crossings and, if necessary, we conduct searches of the terrain and look for evidence that people were in the area,” said policeman Luka Obajdin.

Damir Butina, director of border police in Karlovac County, outlined plans to enhance surveillance:

“The purchase and installation of new stationary thermal imaging systems is planned along the entire external border, as well as the acquisition of mobile thermal imaging cameras mounted on trailers and drones.”

In addition to land border measures, Croatia is strengthening its airspace defense. Starting January 1st, the Croatian Air Force will take full control of national airspace with a squadron of twelve state-of-the-art Rafale fighter jets.

Since December last year, Air Policing in Croatia has been conducted by Italian Eurofighters and Hungarian Gripens.

Brigadier Krešimir Ražov, commander of the Croatian Air Force, emphasized the readiness of the new squadron:

“With the Rafale multi-purpose combat aircraft, we will be on permanent standby—365 days a year, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

These combined land and air measures aim to ensure Croatia’s borders remain secure while modernizing the country’s defense capabilities.